EATC’s first aeromedical evacuation day
On 7 November 2023, the European Air Transport Command (EATC) hosted the first aeromedical evacuation day gathering eighty medical experts from the seven EATC member nations, USA, and Denmark. The activity took place at Eindhoven Air Base.
The European Air Transport is a multinational joint operational command whose mission is to make air assets (transport, resupply, and medical evacuation) available to the member countries. As a reminder, the EATC brings together France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain.
Within EATC, the Aeromedical Evacuation Control Center (AECC) brings together flight doctors and nurses. This team evaluates requests for patient evacuations from participating countries. In close collaboration with the national authorities, the team chooses the most appropriate means of transport for the patient, plans, and supervises the mission until its completion.
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On 7 November, five aeromedical evacuation assets of the EATC fleet, with diverse capacities, were gathered at Eindhoven and put on display. Also participating in this display was a Luftwaffe (GAF, German Air Force) CH-53GS Stallion.
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Participating evacuation assets and their detailed capabilities:
| Germany (Luftwaffe) | |
| 54+23 A400M of LTG62 | capability: 6x PTU, max 4x ICU, 2x IMC patients |
| France (Armée de l Air et de l'Espace) | |
| 069/F-UJCR A330MRTT of ERVTS00.031 | capability: 10x PTU, 88x ambulatory patients |
| Italy (Aeronautica Militare) | |
| MM62179/46-44 KC-130J of 2° Gruppo TM | capability: 3x ATI, 20x N36 |
| Luxembourg (Luxembourg Air Ambulance SA) | |
| LX-RHC CL-605 | capability: 2x PTU, 4x ambulatory (max. 1x ICU, 1x IMC, 4x ambulatory) |
| NATO (MMF) | |
| T-054 A330MRTT of MMU | capability: 6x PTU, 16x Litter, 64x ambulatory patients |
| Germany, but not part of EATC fleet | |
| 85+01 CH-53GS of HSG64 | capability: 3x PTU and 8x Litter (i.e. 3x ICU, 8x IMC patients) |
ATI: Aircraft Transit Isolator, N36: Stretcher, PTU: Patient Transport Unit, ICU: Intensive Care Unit, IMC: Intermediate Care. The Stretcher N 36 is the device for transporting the patient in high biocontainment with dimensions like the standards of a stretcher.
The Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (AAE, French Air and Space Force) had dispatched an Airbus A330MRTT equipped with a MORPHEE kit (MOdules de Réanimation pour Patient à Haute Élongation d’Évacuation). This equipment makes it possible to transform a strategic military aircraft into a long-range medical aircraft in around twelve hours to evacuate up to twelve seriously injured people.
There are two possible configurations, between six and twelve patients, including six or four intubated-ventilated patients respectively. On board, the system is operated by six crew members and twelve members of the Army Health Service (SSA): two anaesthetist-resuscitator doctors, two aeronautical doctors, three anaesthetist nurses, two nurses, two hospital conveyor nurses. The Airmen as well as the specialist(s) are chosen according to the mission to be operated.
The German Air Force displayed an Airbus A400M transport aircraft equipped with 2,8 tons of material and the locally based Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Multinational Unit (MMU) has its own fleet of tanker and transport aircraft, and brings together six NATO partner countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway and the Czech Republic.
The MMU also displayed an aircraft in medical evacuation configuration. Since June this year, the MMU has been officially operational to conduct air medical evacuations within 24 hours under the command of the EATC and AECC.
Luxembourg had sent a Bombardier Challenger 605 with a range of up to 7,400 kilometres. It belongs to Luxembourg Air Rescue which is a private humanitarian association and provides services in many countries.
Credit photos: Jean François Auran